Dr. Albert E. Mackay was born on June 15, 1863 in Hamilton, Ontario, Canada. A few years afterward his family moved to Toronto and there he received his education. He attended Toronto Model School and later the Collegiate Institute. Because of family financial problems he was forced to serve as “School Master” in the small logging village of Port Severn. When he returned to Toronto, he worked as assistant secretary for the Toronto Industrial Exposition, which made it possible for him to attend medical school. In 1883 he entered the medical schools of both the University of Toronto and Trinity College. In 1887 he received degrees from each school, Bachelor of Medicine for the University of Toronto and a Doctor of Medicine and Master in Surgery from Trinity College. To advance his education Dr. Mackay became a ship’s doctor and a passenger on a steamer to England. He did post-graduate work in London with an interest in gentio-urinary and pediatrics.
In 1889, his brother persuaded him to settle in Portland, Oregon, a city of 40, 000 inhabitants. He had an office in the Cambridge Building on 3rd and Morrison. The Medical School was founded in 1887 and Dean Simeon Josephi quickly recognized Dr. Mackay’s exceptional medical training. He was invited to give a course in microscopy as he had brought with him, the first oil-immersion lens. His classes were well attended by many prominent physicians where demonstrations and “germs,” new to the profession, were included in his lectures. He demonstrated the causative agents of tuberculosis, typhoid, diphtheria and many other diseases.
Dr. Mackay was especially interested in a genito-urinary practice and in 1895 he began to confine his practice largely to this field. In 1904 he was made professor of Urology in the University of Oregon Medical School. He became an outstanding authority in the field and for numerous years was on the staff at the University of Oregon Medical School.
Dr. Mackay served as President of the Oregon State Medical Society, the County Medical Society, the Portland Academy of Medicine, the Western Branch of the American Urological Association and the Multnomah Athletic club and a charter member of the Portland Automobile club. In 1938 the University of Oregon Medical School Alumni honored him. After retiring he resumed his practice during WW II due to a shortage of medical men. Dr. Albert E. Mackay died at the age of 89 on November 1, 1952.
From the guide to the Albert E. Mackay Collection, 1910-1945, (Oregon Health & Science University Historical Collections & Archives)
